Protective Case for Portable Electronic Device

ABSTRACT

A protective case for a portable electronic device includes a hard bottom plate, having at least one hole and a flange around a periphery thereof; a soft frame, connected to the bottom plate and having at least one through hole; an inner peripheral edge of the frame being provided with an engaging groove, the flange being engaged in the engaging groove, the frame cooperating with the bottom plate to form an accommodation space for receiving the portable electronic device, a face of the bottom plate, opposite to the accommodation space, cooperating with the frame to form an accommodation trough; a glass substrate, corresponding in shape to the accommodation trough; and a plastic film, disposed between the bottom plate and the glass substrate, the glass substrate and the plastic film being bonded together and disposed in the accommodation trough. Thereby, the glass substrate may increase the scratch resistance of the back of the protective case and may be provided with a color, a pattern or a character to enhance the quality of the protective case.

NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to any reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as itappears in the United States Patent and Trademark Office patent files orrecords, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION Field of Invention

The present invention relates to a protective case for a 3C product, andmore particularly to a protective case for a portable electronic device,such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer or a personal digitalassistant for protecting the portable electronic device from beingscraped.

Description of Related Arts

Portable electronic devices, such as mobile phones, tablets, or personaldigital processing devices (PDA), have become increasingly popular andare almost inseparable from our daily life. Therefore, people pay moreattention to the protection requirements for such portable electronicdevices. The aforesaid portable electronic devices, a mobile phone takenas an example, may be damaged inevitably during use. For example, themobile phone may crack due to falling or be scraped. In order to preventthe mobile phone from being damaged, the mobile phone is covered with aprotective case 10, as shown in FIG. 1, to protect the appearance of themobile phone from being damaged. The protective case is formed of a softelastomeric material by molding, such as thermoplastic polyurethanes(TPU), polyurethane (PU), or silicone-containing materials. Theprotective case is to cover the periphery and the back of the mobilephone and the touch screen of the mobile phone is exposed, so that theuser may operate the mobile phone without removing the protective case.The protective case is able to withstand the impact and protect themobile phone.

However, due to the soft material of the protective case, when themobile phone is placed on a table or a hard surface, it is easy toscrape the protective case. The back 11 of the protective case may havea lot of scratches 12. Although the scratches 12 don't affect thefunctionality of the protective case, the overall appearance is notpleasing to the eyes. Besides, the scratches 12 are easy to accumulatedirt and bacteria, so it is necessary to improve the existing protectivecase. Accordingly, the inventor of the present invention has devotedhimself based on his many years of practical experiences to solve theseproblems.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

In view of the aforesaid shortcomings, the primary object of the presentinvention is to provide a protective case for a portable electronicdevice.

The main technology and the purpose of the present invention is that theback of the protective case is provided with a glass substrate. Theglass substrate itself has a high hardness and scratch resistance toenhance wear resistance and scratch resistance of the protective case.Moreover, the surface of the glass substrate is smooth and translucent,thereby enhancing the quality of the protective case and improving theappearance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional protective case;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a glass substrate provided with a patternof the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a plastic film provided with a pattern ofthe present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the present invention provided with apattern.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way ofexample only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 4, the present invention discloses aprotective case 20 for a portable electronic device. The protective case20 comprises a bottom plate 21, a frame 24, a glass substrate 30, and aplastic film 32.

The bottom plate 21 is a hard flat plate for covering the back of theportable electronic device. The bottom plate 21 has at least one hole 22corresponding to at least one lens of the portable electronic device anda flange 23 around its periphery.

The frame 24 is a flexible frame and is connected to the bottom plate 21for covering the periphery of the portable electronic device. The frame24 has at least one through hole 25 corresponding to at least oneinterface port of the portable electronic device. The inner peripheraledge of the frame 24 is provided with an engaging groove 26. The flange23 is engaged in the engaging groove 26. The frame 24 cooperates withthe bottom plate 21 to form an accommodation space 27 for receiving theportable electronic device. A face of the bottom plate 21, opposite tothe accommodation space 27, cooperates with the frame 24 to form anaccommodation trough 28. Four corners of the frame 24 are each providedwith a raised rib 241 adjacent to the accommodation trough 28.

The glass substrate 30 corresponds in shape to the accommodation trough28. The glass substrate 30 has at least one first perforation 31corresponding to the hole 21.

The plastic film 32 is disposed between the bottom plate 21 and theglass substrate 30. The plastic film 32 has at least one secondperforation 33 corresponding to the hole 22. A first adhesive layer 34is provided between the plastic film 32 and the glass substrate 30. Asecond adhesive layer 35 is provided between the plastic film 32 and thebottom plate 21. The glass substrate 30 and the plastic film 32 arebonded together and disposed in the accommodation trough 28. The glasssubstrate 30 may increase the scratch resistance of the back of theprotective case 20, and may be provided with a color, a pattern or acharacter to enhance the quality of the protective case 20.

The assembly, function and details of the aforesaid embodiment aredescribed below. As shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 4, the bottom plate 21 ofthe protective case 20 is made of a hard material which is lessdeformable, for example, polycarbonate (PC), poly ethylene terephthalate(PET), etc., but not limited thereto. The frame 24 of the protectivecase 20 is made of a soft elastic material, such as thermoplasticpolyurethane (TPU), polyurethane (PU), thermoplastic elastomer (TPE),polypropylene (PP), etc., but not limited thereto, so that theprotective case 20 provides a shockproof effect. For the camera lens,the logo, the microphone, or the port of the portable electronic deviceto be exposed, not covered by the protective case 20, the hole 22 of thebottom plate 21 corresponds in position to the camera lens, logo orspecific pattern of the electronic device. The through hole 25 of theframe 24 may correspond in position to the position of the human-machineor transmission interface of the portable electronic device, such as amicrophone, a port, a power switch, and a volume key. The glasssubstrate 30 may be made of tampered glass, but not limited thereto, toimprove the hardness and scratch resistance effectively and to prolongthe service life of the glass substrate 30. The plastic film 32 is ahigh tensile strength transparent film (for example, a PET film or a PCfilm), which can further enhance the strength of the glass substrate 30and reduce the chance of cracking and prevent the glass substrate frombeing scattered when the glass substrate is broken. When the glasssubstrate is damaged by impact, the glass substrate may crack, but notbeing scattered, so as to enhance the safety and the purpose ofprotection.

To assemble the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 4, theflange 23 of the bottom plate 21 is first engaged with the engaginggroove 26 of the frame 24. Preferably, the bottom plate 21 is placed ina mold, and the frame 24 is formed to wrap the flange 23 of the bottomplate 21 by injection molding and further to form the accommodationspace 27 and the accommodation trough 28. One side surface of theplastic film 32 is coated with the first adhesive layer 34 and bonded tothe glass substrate 30. Preferably, the first adhesive layer 34 is aviscous, transparent OCA (optical clear adhesive), but not limitedthereto, so that the plastic film 32 is firmly adhered to the glasssubstrate 30 and has a good light transmittance. The other side surfaceof the plastic film 32 is coated with the second adhesive layer 35 andbonded to the bottom plate 21 in the accommodation trough 28.Preferably, the second adhesive layer 35 is a silicone rubber which isreleasable, but not limited thereto. Thus, the glass substrate 30 andthe plastic film 32 can be repeatedly adhered to or separated from thebottom plate 21. The bottom plate 21 is made of a hard material and isnot easily deformable and is excellent in flatness, so it can beattached to the glass substrate 30 and the plastic film 32 tightly. Itis to be noted that the surface of the glass substrate 30 is not beyondthe accommodation trough 28. That is, the height of the glass substrate30 does not exceed the depth of the accommodation trough 28 after beingattached, so that the edge of the glass substrate 30 can be protectedfrom direct impact by the protective case 20. In other words, the raisedribs 241 at the four corners of the frame 24 first withstand the impact,which can achieve the effect of cushioning and avoid direct impact onthe glass substrate 30 if the protective case 20 is accidentally droppedon the ground or accidentally collided.

It is to be noted that, as shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, one of the glasssubstrate 30 and the plastic film 32 may be provided with a color. Anadhesive surface of the glass substrate 30 may be printed with apattern, a line, a design, a character, and so on (as shown in FIG. 5),but not limited thereto. A surface of the plastic film 32 may be printedwith a pattern, a line, a design, a character, and so on (as shown inFIG. 6), but not limited thereto. Thereby, the protective case 20 ismore beautiful and its quality is improved. The user can change thepattern, the design or the character of the glass substrate 30 and theplastic film 32 as desired. (Because the second adhesive layer 35 isreleasable, it can be repeatedly pasted and replaced.) The presentinvention is very practical.

Although particular embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed in detail for purposes of illustration, various modificationsand enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention. Accordingly, the present invention is not tobe limited except as by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A protective case for a portable electronicdevice, comprising: a bottom plate, made of a hard material, the bottomplate having at least one hole and a flange around a periphery thereof;a frame, made of a soft material and connected to the bottom plate, theframe having at least one through hole, an inner peripheral edge of theframe being provided with an engaging groove, the flange being engagedin the engaging groove, the frame cooperating with the bottom plate toform an accommodation space, a face of the bottom plate, opposite to theaccommodation space, cooperating with the frame to form an accommodationtrough; a glass substrate, corresponding in shape to the accommodationtrough; and a plastic film, disposed between the bottom plate and theglass substrate, a first adhesive layer being provided between theplastic film and the glass substrate, a second adhesive layer beingprovided between the plastic film and the bottom plate, the glasssubstrate and the plastic film being bonded together and disposed in theaccommodation trough.
 2. The protective case as claimed in claim 1,wherein the glass substrate has at least one first perforationcorresponding to the hole, and the plastic film has at least one secondperforation corresponding to the hole.
 3. The protective case as claimedin claim 2, wherein the glass substrate has a height not beyond a depthof the accommodation trough after being attached.
 4. The protective caseas claimed in claim 3, wherein four corners of the frame are eachprovided with a raised rib adjacent to the accommodation trough.
 5. Theprotective case as claimed in claim 3, wherein the first adhesive layeris an optical clear adhesive (OCA), and the second adhesive layer is asilicone rubber.
 6. The protective case as claimed in claim 1, whereinone of the glass substrate and the plastic film is provided with acolor.
 7. The protective case as claimed in claim 1, wherein a surfaceof the plastic film is printed with a pattern, a line, a design, or acharacter.
 8. The protective case as claimed in claim 1, wherein anadhesive surface of the glass substrate is printed with a pattern, aline, a design, or a character.